Chapter 5: American military situations
The French, ironically enough, would soon have a problem with the United States of America. France had supported the American Revolution… for a price. John Adams, one of the chief American diplomats of the time, stated that the U.S. would have difficulty paying the French debt. A previous argument that the debts were old to an older regime fell apart once the situation in France stabilized; in 1798, the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand wanted the U.S. to continue paying the war debts of the American Revolution, and in higher amounts. The United States of America also had a problem with the policy of impressment, where French and British ships seized and captured American ships and their crews. Complaints arose from the United States government, but they fell on deaf ears. As a result, the United States prepared for war if necessary, but attempted to avoid war via diplomacy.
A worsening international situation spurred the professionalization of the U.S. Army and Navy. Defensive fortifications started to be produced along the United States of America’s borders with Canada and Carolina. Attempts at playing off one major European power against another also saw action. The United States of America desperately wanted to stay neutral, and it attempted to get the other European powers as a standoff against France and Britain. The United States of America did get the support of Austria and Russia against France and Britain, although Austria was widely considered a ‘paper lion’—strong on paper, weak in practice. Russia was also considered a ‘crouching bear’—strong when defending itself, weaker when attacking or defending someone else. Russia and Austria had disagreements with France since they feared French revolutionaries trying to spread their ideals to them. They knew what happened in Prussia and in Spain—rebellions in the name of overthrowing a monarch. They did not want that to happen to them. The U.S. did manage to successfully play off the foreign powers, who may have been threats to it. As such, the United States of America was largely left to its own devices in settling the West, and trade in peacetime. This lack of foreign entanglements partially contributed to an "Era of Good Feelings" where the country was humming along smoothly. Two political parties would develop, the Federalists, and the Democratic-Republicans, with the former supposedly having more moneyed interests and the latter supposedly being in favor of the common man.
A small war would break out over Barbary pirates seizing American ships. The United States of America built up a navy, which had hardly existed in the years prior, and sent it under the command of John Paul Jones in 1801. The U.S. Navy performed admirably against the Barbary pirates, with foreign countries being surprised at the efficacy of the U.S. Navy. The Battle of Tripoli, where U.S. Marines performed their first success by invading Tripoli and forcing a surrender, as the U.S. Navy wiped out the resident Barbary Pirate navy, led to the eventual fall of the Barbary ‘Pirate States’ because no one feared them anymore after the Battle of Tripoli. The U.S. Naval buildup had also contributed to the vanishing of impressment by 1810, as the United States of America would now be able to hold its own in a naval war against Britain or France.
Aaron Burr would be disgraced in the United States of America during this period, for being too soft against the British. He was considered a British pawn, probably because he tried to ignore the impressment issue. As a result, he was widely considered ‘persona non grata’ for accused cowardice. Rumors also started to fly around him, from bribery to extortion, none of which could be fully proven, but it was enough to send Burr out of the United States of America, not wanting to be laughed at by everyone. He could return, but decided not to since everyone would make fun of him and no one would accept him. As a result, Burr was seen taking a tour of Europe, and also arrived in British Columbia for a time.
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
The expression “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” was surfacing around this time. Large waves of immigration started to arrive to the now-industrializing USA, and were met with much skepticism. When large amounts of land still existed on the frontier, most of the immigrants were tolerated, at least there. But it was in the cities where the most skepticism about immigrants existed. Many existing workers feared they would be pushed out of work. The most hatred was directed to the Irish immigrants; fear of Catholicism was a main factor in this. Many enterprises such as the formation of the Erie Canal starting in 1817 required large amounts of labor, often sourced from recent immigrants. Admittedly, the construction of the canal was fraught with problems. Delays, disease outbreaks, and worst of all, abuses of labor. Company thugs often appeared to force the workers to continue operating. The appalling rates of death on the job would soon reach the ears of the American public, but proponents of the canal won out. Nonetheless, crafty politicians started to realize that the recent immigrant vote could be useful for their own ambitions. They often used graft at this point, leading to the formation of the first political machines.
The immigration to the United States of America did not translate to more immigration to ‘Columbia’, which was the British Deep South. This area did have some immigrants, especially after the British attempted to resettle Irishmen there to clear up room in Ireland. The “Irish Clearances” would allow for further developments of the Agricultural Revolution in those cleared lands, and other parts of the "Irish Clearances" were used to make factories. There was a laboratory in Ireland, built from small parts of these lands, and they would be used to experiment with varying agricultural practices. Promises of better land, more supplies, and an easier chance to feed their families often reached the Irish, and they would supposedly get these promises if they moved to 'Columbia'